Liberty Alice - 2013

It's honest and I included most of the gory details, so if you can't handle that then read no further!

Alright you birth junkies, enjoy :)

I'll start at the very beginning! On the Saturday before my due date, we had two birthday parties to attend. During the first I noticed I was having lots of Braxton-Hicks
contractions. During the second I noticed that they seemed fairly regular. When we got home I timed a few and they were 10 minutes apart. Nothing to be alarmed about, but
cool! I went to bed and noticed that every time I woke up to pee, it was because of a BH. So when I woke up in the morning I decided to time a few more. Still 10 minutes
apart! I let my birth team know, just in case, but figured it was nothing but warm up. Hayley flew in that night. We spent the next few days keeping busy, and the BH kept up
like clockwork. Sometimes they'd slow to every 12 or 15 minutes for a while, but for the most part they stayed right at 10 minutes apart. Some were very mildly uncomfortable but none
hurt. I wasn't worried, but found myself able to enjoy the journey this time. After a couple days, my midwife happened to be in the area and came by to do my 40 week visit. All
was well, a little bit of leukocytes in my urine so she theorized maybe a mild UTI was irritating my uterus, but nothing to be majorly concerned about. Honestly, I still believe this is
just how my body likes to warm up for the big event! I know it happened with Luke but I blamed it on the high tear. It probably happened with Wendy but being inexperienced, I didn't
recognize it until the day before she was born, and I do recall that day timing a few (while on the way to Ft. Worth and then while watching/trying not to watch Transformers at the movie theater)
and they were 10 minutes apart too.

Quinn - 2015

I've been meaning to post this...better late then never :)

I woke up at about 1 in the morning on Jan 13th with stomach pains that I thought were digestive. After a while I realized they were intensifying in waves and realized these were probably
contractions. I texted the midwife, Sarah, and our photographer/doula, Jenny, to give them a heads up that something might be happening. I then got back into bed and started timing them. Within
an hour they went from 5 minutes apart to 3 minutes. I called Sarah and she decided she was going to head over now since she was an hour away and we weren’t sure how quickly they were going to
progress.

Drew and I got up and went downstairs to wait for everyone. This seemed to make my contractions slow down. When Sarah and her assistant, Jess, got to our house she sent us back to bed and sent
Jenny home since things were still very early. Going back to bed made the contractions return to every three minutes. Sarah and Jess stayed at our house and slept while checking on me every hour
to see how things were going. I was able to get some rest and we all woke up and came downstairs around 7.

Sariah 2017

writing you tell you about your birth. I fear I will likely forget some of the small details, especially if there are any siblings to follow you.

Your birth story really began the weekend before you were born. Friday, to be exact. I was having a really down day emotionally. i woke up feeling super depressed because there was no sign
of your impending arrival, and nearly all the April babies in Sarah's practice had been born.... except you. I was highly doubting my body's ability to initiate the complex sequence of
events necessary for birth because of the previous miscarriages your dad and I had experienced before being surprised by you. I was crying, and the people I reached out to that morning were
neither helpful nor kind. So, I went to my acupuncture appointment, pretty certain it would not be effective starting labor. Leaving acupuncture, I went to see your dad because he had
pulled his back earlier that morning. I had a few cramps, that definitely felt different but fizzled quickly.

Saturday and Sunday I tried using exercise to induce labor. Saturday I worked out in the gym, Sunday we went for a very long walk with the dogs and Darshana in the woods. It wasn't until
Sunday i started feeling cramps with a time-able pattern... at 30 minutes apart. i chalked it up to another false start and went to bed hoping to get another decent night sleep if labor began.

Rhys - 2018

Rhys' birth story: Birth story while it's fresh

Went to bed the night of my due date restless. I could not get comfortable. Woke up at 3am to contractions. Had a snack and started timing them while I let Drew sleep. They were pretty strong
contractions right from the start lasting about a minute long and about 7 minutes apart. I texted our midwife, Sarah, to give her a heads up since these contractions seemed to be sticking around
unlike the lighter ones I'd been having intermittently all week. I tried to rest as much as I could but they weren't light enough to sleep through.

Maple - 2018

Story by Rosie: I woke up on the morning of July 19th around 4:30am when my
husband was getting ready for work and told him that I had been having some contractions, which he had heard at least 10 other times since we entered the "green zone". He headed to work and
I got up to time contractions and get some quiet time before the other kiddos woke up. I lost my mucous plug and had some bloody show around 5:30, which signaled that this was the real
deal. FINALLY! I was 41+5 and had been expecting our third child "any day now" for about a month! I called Sarah to let her know and she agreed to wait for my signal and then she would
come over. I let my husband know he should head home from work and my mom came over to be with the boys while I labored. Around 6am our 5 and two year old woke up and they doted on me
as I labored, rubbing my back with contractions. My mom arrived as contractions began to come on strong and my water broke shortly after. I let Sarah know it was time to head over. My
husband arrived home just in time as the real work of labor began. Sarah arrived during transition and was a gentle and steady presence, reminding me to control my breath and let my body do it's
job. We knew our little one was close to being born, and after a few contractions with not much progress, Sarah recommended a position change and three contractions later I delivered our sweet
baby gently into my own arms. Relief and the flood of emotions washed over me as I looked down and to our surprise saw that we had a little girl. Our boys came out to learn that they had a
little sister and after a few minutes we moved to the couch for some skin to skin and to deliver the placenta. She had her first latch and we all marveled at this little life and the
speed at which she made her way earth side. This uninterrupted time for bonding and being together as a family in our own space is one of my favorite
parts of birthing at home. Our oldest got to cut the cord once it was time and Daddy, the boys and Grandma got to hold her while I got checked out. Sarah
took her measurements and we ate breakfast and all reflected together on the morning, the long wait and many false alarms she gave us before finally picking her birth day.

Kollyns - 2018

As we eagerly awaited the arrival of our baby, I began feeling a little anxious around approaching the 41 week mark. I was past our “due date” of November 6th. Frequent checkups and ultrasounds
would need to be done to check that the baby was safe and healthy post 40 weeks. I did my best to stay patient and trust in my body. My baby and body knew when the time was right.

The evening of Monday, November 12th I began contractions and continued to have one or two an hour throughout the night. These felt different than they had before, stronger. They were waking me
up and forcing me out of bed to pace around or go pee. By 4am (Tuesday, November 13th) the contractions became closer together; about every 15 minutes. Once I experienced this consistently for 2
hours I texted Sarah. She told me to rest as much as I could while still carrying on with my day like normal. She encouraged me to go for a walk. Since it was raining, I walked all throughout the
apartment building; the long hallways and the stairs. After 30 minutes of walking, my contractions had become irregular and infrequent. Click here to continue